At the time of his disappearance, Mr. Bhatti was around 43 years old and was working on 131 TADA cases.[3] After a public interest litigation was filed in the High Court concerning Mr. Bhatti's abduction, the High Court of Punjab & Haryana ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate his disappearance. However, in March 1997 the CBI inquiry concluded that the location of Mr. Bhatti could not be determined nor liability for his disappearance established. Though the CBI report describes extensive evidence indicating police responsibility for the disappearance, they concluded that the case be closed as untraced.[5] The High Court subsequently dismissed the case.
Though another case was initiated before the Supreme Court in 1994, the inquiry ordered into the disappearance of Mr. Bhatti by the Court has proceeded in an irregular fashion, and no action has been taken by the Court since April 2004.
Sukhwinder Singh Bhatti's case is one of many disappearances that have been communicated to the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances by various human rights organizations over the past several years. The Working Group, formed in 1980, has dealt with thousands of such cases in several countries.
Sukhwinder Singh Bhatti was one of several human rights lawyers and activists who were allegedly murdered or disappeared by Punjab police. Others include Jaswant Singh Khalra, Ranbir Singh Mansahia, Jagwinder Singh, and Kulwant Singh (along with his family).[6] A protection order for Punjab human rights lawyers was even secured in a court case in 1994.